Playing at the Beach

This year, we are again, withing walking distance to the beach. Technically, we are right on a little salt pond that leads out to the Harbor, but there is just marshy area in the back yard. So we walk to the beach. The kids love this beach because it has the little inlet that they can play in and see the Minos and other tiny sea-creatures. The beach area is rather rocky, but it is perfect for practicing throwing. We can wind up and see who gets the greatest Ker-PLUNK! We have also been collecting a lot of shells, horse-shoe crab skeletons, little pieces of driftwood, etc. Jinx loves lifting up the rocks and digging in the muck to see what she can find. The other day she decided to paint her entire body with the mucky sand and then wobble over to the waters edge to splash around and rinse off.



All in all it is a great little spot we have here in Sag Harbor. I think it is perfect for the kids. The rocky beaches can be just as much fun, if not more fun than the sandy beaches for kids in the 1-6 age range. Exploring is fun!

We have planned lots of crafts to do with all of the beach-y items we have been collecting, but have yet to actually do any of them. You can do a lot with them though. I was telling the kids we could use the pieces of sea-glass, shell bits, and pebbles to make a mosaic. We'll see if we get to it.

Today the air feels light and crisp like the fall! We'll see what fun we can find this week!

Hope everyone enjoyed an excellent weekend! I had an awesome couple of days off :)

Baby Projects

A good warm weather project for any baby that is sitting up on their own is to let them paint. I put Jinx outside for a little tactile and color amusement. It's a very simple project.. Lay out a large piece or several large pieces of paper put a glob of each of the primary colors on... you can work with just one when they are younger, but as they age, it is fun to play with the primaries and see how they swirl, mingle, and mix together to become new colors. I let her sit in just a diaper and paint with her whole body to feel it and make what ever she wanted. The clean up is a breeze too! The baby goes in the tub.. the art stays out to dry, and the patio hoses right off!

You could probably apply this project to your dogs too if you needed some good paw prints, you could put down a tray of a color that coordinates with your decor, and then walk them through the trey and onto the paper... cut out a good looking series of prints or one that looks great and frame them up solo or in a cluster.

Your dogs may freak out by the project, but Jinx sure had fun!

Rainy Day Kids

Today is our first rainy day in the Hamptons. Which reminds me of a rainy day we had about a month ago back home.

These boys love the rain! They like to take rain walks, and get bundled up and play when it's pouring. This particular rainy day, they decided to get all geared up, and splash around in the back yard...


See anything peculiar about this picture? Jock has a tiny tushie, and his pants are always slithering down... When he was running around in the rain, it was no exception. Although he typically notices when his pants have hit the ground, he was beside himself with all the fun he was having in this wonderful weather! So he just played in the rain with his pants around his ankles, and I shamelessly photographed it.


What a great group I have to look after!
Are you a rain person? Do you splash about when the rain comes out? Or do you frown and stay inside? I am a rain person! I love it, unless it is going on for too many consecutive days...then it can get old, but here and there, not only can they be fun, but they are a great way to literally clear the air, and refresh the earth. What's not to love?!

Happy Munchkin Monday!

Munckin-ing at the Beach

The boys were just ushered out the door by yours truly, to be taken to camp by Mrs. Bean. Although Freddy and Jock will be attending the same camp, they will be in different groups and enjoying their own activities. Today is their first day, and I do hope they have fun. They are signed up to go for the remaining weeks that we are here, but based on their spirits, and how much they enjoy the camp, Mrs. Bean is thinking she may have them complete only the first week. Or she may have Jock, who is younger complete one week, and Freddy complete two. So cross your fingers that they have fun, because the more fun they have, the longer they continue going to their day camp, and the less cranky I will be! (See how it comes full circle?)


Last week, we were trying to come up with all different fun activities for the boys to do around town and at the beach to fill the days. We have been doing quite well, and I think they have only fulfilled their 30 minute daily tv limit three times!

One thing that we did that was particularly fun, was we had a beach breakfast! I made pancakes, and scrambled eggs, cut up some fruit, filled some water sippies, and packed Freddy Goes to Florida and we headed down to have a waterfront breaky.


It was great! Not a difficult task, and when we finished eating, we read two chapters from our book before heading out on an adventure. Can you believe that a beach breakfast was a big enough thing to fill the morning. Not only were their bellies full until lunch, but they were having so much fun, they forgot to complain until they became hungry at lunch time. What a great thing! This is definitely on the list of keepers. Anything that keeps them happy, keeps me happy! (Full Circle again... It's all relative!)

Happy Munchkin Monday!

Face Shapes

Every once in a while, I get tired of sitting around the house doing the same mundane activities with the Bean Farm kids, so we go on outings. This particular outing was to a place called Earth Place. It is a fun facility geared towards adventurous kids. They get to run around and explore the environment. There are indoor activities, and outdoor trails and things. Fun, fun place. Great place for the boys to let off steam.

While we were there, we found a giant peg board thing. It was red on one side and clear on the other, and when you pushed all the pegs to one side, you could make designs by pushing some of them to the other side. Or, you could push your face in them, and that started a world of fun... push your face in once, or see how many times you could fit your face in the peg board. These boys tried it all. And I enjoyed chuckling right along in their fun!




Sometimes it is good to be easily amused! And I love finding great new ways to keep kids happy, this definitely falls into that category!

Have a happy munchkin Monday!

Workin hard..?

Of course! But, that doesn't mean that I don't get to enjoy my work! With the Bean Family, we go swimming a lot. Which is a wonderful way to avoid the CT heat! If I had access to a pool on me own time, you would probably think I was a fish! I have been trying to take advantage of the benefits of swimming while we are at the pool, and if the boys are trying to come up with games to do, I try and turn them into laps for me. Sometimes it works, and sometimes not, but I get in the laps I can while simultaneously watching Jock and Freddy.



Jock loves the water as much as I do, but Freddy needs a little bit more convincing. Which is fine... when the temp gets high enough, he joins us... or if he has a friend over that wants to get in, he'll get in too, or if Jock is acting like it's the most fun he has ever had in his life, Freddy inevitably gets in then as well. Nonetheless, when we're all swimming, we are all having a fun time!

What's your favorite summer time activity? I really love just being outside, doing any number of things, but when it is too hot, I either need nature to provide a body of water, or I need to have pool access!

Happy Munchkin Monday!

Slip Slidin' Munchins

Last week, I went shopping for some fun outdoor activities to do on the Farm during hot weather. I purchased a slip'n'slide!


We (Freddy & I, Jack had an appt, and Jinx is simply too small for these kinds of activities!) had a lot of fun with it, even if there wasn't a whole lot of sliding. We mostly just used it as an extremely large sprinkler... it may have been better if the water wasn't icy cold in the mid-80 degree heat.... too much contrast for us! None the less, we had a laughter filled afternoon!

After we were done with the slide... we splashed in the mud puddles that the water made running down the lawn... soo fun!


What kind of water activities do you enjoy when it gets too hot?

A New Group Of Munchkins

These three will take on the names of Characters from the Freddy The Pig books. Did you ever read them? Well, of all the children's books I have read, these are not on the list. I did a quick Google search to see what I could discover about children's books with three characters to find some andventurous animals that may properly portray this new trio, and I came upon Freddy and his friends from the Bean Family Farm in Upstate New York. Just the descriptions of there events make me want to rush to the library and check out all 26 books that were published in the series. I think as I am working with these three, I may make a weekly, or bi-weekly trip to the library to pick them up, one at a time. I will try to find them all, and I will review them along with my munchkin posts.

For now I have chosen Freddy to be the oldest, a boy of 5 years old, he is spunky, creative, and full of spunk! Jack will portray the second and middle child, another boy, 3 years old. And Jinx will be the newest addition to the family, 2 month old baby girl. As I have yet to read any of the stories, I do reserve the right to change which character represents which child, although, I will probably just keep them the same so you (and I) don't become confused.

Here's to a new start with a new group of fun-loving munchkins! Happy Munchkin Monday!

(almost) Munchkin Free Monday

Happy Memorial day!

Who has really big plans today? Anyone do anything fun over the weekend? Well I like to spend the time at the beach, or poolside, at a barbeque, or some other fun social event surrounded by friends, sun, laughter, and lots of great memories to be made!


Today, I am going to see Roo for a few hours so that R&S can have a lunch date to celebrate S's birthday. But before that I am going to go sit at the beach, and read. And afterward, I will be going to a friends house to enjoy some grilled goodies by the pool. It should be a good day :)

Enjoy your holiday!

Teething Munchkin

Roo is teething like you wouldn't believe. This kid is great, don't get me wrong, but he's really putting a damper on me ever wanting to have kids, because every baby goes through it, all a little differently, but if even one of my children were to teeth like Roo, I would hate being a mother... not good.

He has been whiny and crying and grouchy for all of last week and a little of the week before! Everything goes in the mouth, and we are putting a lot of his toys in the freezer.

Sense he isn't wanting to be put down very much (and I'm doing it anyway because he needs to not get to comfortable with the royal treatment of never being put down), and he likes to keep moving, swaying, bouncing etc. I'm limited to holding him, putting him in the bouncer, or putting him in the stroller and taking him for a walk. Which we do everyday anyhow, but the limitation of activities is getting old fast.


The stroller is a good one though, and as you can see he still has his teether-toy shoved in his mouth. Hopefully he will have grown a tooth over the weekend, and today will be good, but if not, I scheduled a playdate for my friend who is also a nanny of a baby to come over and walk with us. Her baby is teething too... boo.

Here's hoping for a happy Munchkin Monday!

Tummy Time on Deck

When the weather is good, we are happy! Here's hoping for more (not super hot) sun shine!

Munchkin Monday

We have been experiencing some real spring weather over here. A wonderful mix of the glimmering sun, and the sprinkling rain. I'm a fan of both, and with me influencing the playtime and development of Roo, he will be a fan of both as well. When it is overcast and sprinkling rain, we have less options, but we try to still get out. Typically just bundled up in the stroller for a quick walk, and some fresh air (unless it is actually cold as well as wet).

But in the sun, we have some real fun! We can take walks around their beautiful yard, or hang out on the deck and have some outdoor tummy time, or lunch, or for some fun time in the saucer, but I am loving every minute of it!


This is going to be a great season! Enjoy your Munckins :)

Walkin on Monday

Roo is great! And so are his parents, in fact, they are good with me taking Roo to my place and taking Charlie for walks... so we did.



Charlie and Roo were both very excited to meet each other, and we had a great little jaunt around the neighborhood. There will hopefully be many more outings with the baby, and the pup.

Happy Munchkin Monday.

Munchkin Monday!

Well, today was my first day taking care of Mr. Roo... He is a great baby, and we had an awesome first day, but before I start my MM posts on this little fella I'd like to say goodbye to all the kiddies at the day care.

One of my favorite things to do with the kids, was to take them for a Carriage Ride. We have this 4-seater, that we load the kids into when the weather is nice, and this last week the weather here was beautiful! (This week is going to make up for it a bit with drizzles, and chills.)

Anyhow, on my last day, I got to take the kids out for my last Carriage Ride. They love it, we always look for fun things around the neighborhood, and make it into a great little outing. Although there will be no more carriage rides, there will be a lot of new strolls in the stroller. So it was a short but sweet run with the old, and now in with the new.

Happy Munchkin Monday!

Sad Munchkin Monday :(

The kids don't really understand why I am moving into my apartment, and why I'm not living here. So this morning while we were getting Little Ann ready for Girl Scout Day Camp (which she is loving) we talked about it. I think it would be easier for them if they had someone to replace me so we could say "you are going to have so much fun with (insert name here)! I heard she is planning so many fun adventures for you!!" But unfortunately, they are still hunting.. So it comes down to trying to tell an 8 year old, and 4 year old that I am just moving to a new apartment and starting at a new job.. I have told them that my apartment is close, and that we will go there so that they can see it sometime this week, and I will come and play with them whenever G & S need me to (so long as I don't have anything else going on)... But when it is all said and done, it is simply sad that after a little more than two years of seeing them every single day, and taking care of them for 11+ hours Monday through Friday, I am done. Although I am not crying yet, and this is going to be a very exciting new chapter in my life, I will be crying on Friday, and I will probably show up on Sunday before they leave to board their plane with S to visit their Grandpa, and on Monday (my official last day) when it will be just G and myself with Little Baby... It is going to be sad.

It has been a pretty good two years, with some fabulous adventures, fun, happiness and love, as well as some hardships too (after all they are kids!)... but I am very glad to have had this experience, and it will be sad at our house at the end of the week.

Here's to one last week filled with little laughs, little hugs, and lots of fun!

Happy Munchkin Monday :)

I'm So Proud of my Munchkins!

Yesterday we left for block Island, and Little Ann was feeling a little nervous about bringing her bike. A while back G & S took the training wheels off, but really didn't feed her enough confidence and support to get her going on the bike. So it has been sitting in the garage getting dusty and taking up space...
Until, I told her that everyone gets nervous about riding there bikes, and in fact, Last summer when I purchased my bike, and hadn't ridden in about 7 or 8 years, I was nervous! So I told her she should try and I would help her get started. After holding onto the back a few times, I pretended to hold on a few more times, and then I let go.. She did it! And then, she did it over and over again.. moving onto the street, and biking up and down hills, in circles, and even once, letting go with a hand to wave at a friend we were riding past!

I'm am soo proud of Little Ann! I knew she could do it, she just needed to know she could do it too!
And Little Dan, has been practicing building sand castles, so that while we are in Block Island, he can make some mean castles on the beach! For the longest time it was "No Krystle! You can't do this, it's my sand table!!" But finally I convinced him to let me show him so sandcastle building tips... and voila, while I was making dinner and he was playing with his sand table (on the patio, right by the kitchen window, don't worry, I'm not a negligent nanny) he built, 5 sand castles all by himself!

Way to go Munchkins! We will use these skills for the entire BI trip!

Obstacle Course!!

So sense we have a new baby in the house, I have been trying to keep the older two out of the house as much as possible.. with all of our wonderful June weather (rainy one moment sunny the next, and then rainy again all day long) it has been difficult. But one afternoon, while we were enjoying a lovely spurt of sunshine, I set up an obstacle course, and the kids rode their trikes and scooters up and down it all day long (even when it started to rain a bit!).
This is the last week before we head to Block Island for 2 weeks.. We have a few play dates scheduled, and I think we'll go to the aquarium one day, and then just hang at the house, and play with sidewalk chalk or go for a bike ride or something on the other days. It should be fun, and then we'll be off to Block Island before we know it! I guess I should go start the kids laundry so they have something to bring with us... and on that note, I should probably do my own laundry too!!

Happy Monday!

Munchkins Venture to Mystic!

During Spring Break, we had a wonderful week, filled with all kinds of fun, which was a great thing, because it gave me faith that the summer won't be "boring" and it will be so exciting!

We drove up to Mystic, CT, where they have all these great old tall ships, and they have preserved a part of the town how it used to be in "olden day times" --little Ann. They were working on restoring one of the ships while we were there, and it was out of the water, it was huge! We had to climb up 72 stairs to get to the top. Once we were inside, we got to explore the ship and we all got to pretend to drive it too.



Then we wandered around, and explored the area where the crew would have slept, made food, taken care of business, etc. It seemed very cramp, and quite frankly, I'm glad I've never had to live on an old ship.

After we spent the entire day enjoying Mystic, we had a picnic lunch, and then the kids let me stop at the yarn store for a small detour before getting ice cream and heading home. I ended up with 7 balls of Lang Silk Dream in a pale dusty pink, and my first ever hank of sock yarn, purchased with the actual purpose of making socks (who knows when that will actually happen) and I really liked the colorway, so I thought heck, I can give it a shot. I believe it was a Misti Alpaca hand painted sock yarn... I will post pictures soon.

Monsters Munchkin Monday

This past Friday I took the littles to go see Monsters vs. Aliens



It was really cute! I highly recommend it to anyone with kids, or who can use someone elses kids as an excuse to see little kid movies...I love little kid movies, and its a good thing I'm a nanny because there are a lot of great kids movies lately. This movie had a lot of good humor for the kids, and the adults too, I may have laughed more than any of the kids in the theater... oh well...at least I was enjoying myself :)

So basically... it was a good movie, it had great animation, the expressions and details were amazing (as they are in all dreamworks/pixar movies), the plot was cute and easy to follow, nothing really scary happened so it was good for the little guys too... all in all I think its a winner.

Next on the list of Kid Movies to see is Up :)

Other than that.. I woke up Saturday morning, and I was sick...booo. I'm still getting over the last little bit of it, and of course I'm still working..so today we are taking it easy--here's hoping for easy kids today, and hoping to get better by the end of the day too :)

Happy Munchkin Monday..Have a great day!

Patriotic Manicure

So this past weekend I had the house to myself because The Littles went with G & S to Washington DC. This was a birthday trip for Little Ann, she has been learning about the capitol this year in school, and for her birthday in Feb. she wanted to go.... they opted to wait until the weather was a little warmer before making the trip.

Also for miss A's Birthday, I gave her a gift certificate to get a manicure and pedicure... so last weekend, we had a girls afternoon, of lunch, mani's, and Pedi's... oh my!

It was really fun to hang out just the two of us! Paying homage to our country, and wanting to look festive for their trip, she did her nails in red, white and blue... and I did mine in a dark purple to match the outline of my foot tattoo. All in all it was a great girls day... and having the house to myself all weekend long, was extremely wonderful and relaxing boring and lonely.



Happy Munchkin Monday :)